Bio

As a strong advocate of the value of a liberal education, Shaily Menon has served the university and the community in a variety of ways. She is an inclusion advocate, co-PI of an NSF S-STEMS grant, mentor to new unit heads in CLAS, trained mediator, anti-harassment and discrimination policy investigator, and member of the 2016-2021 University Strategic Positioning Task Force. She has been a member of the CLAS Dean’s Search Committee, Presidential Search Advisory Committee, and Claiming a Liberal Education Advisory Committee. She served as co-PI of an NSF-ADVANCE grant, unit head of biology for two terms, and chairperson of the University Referendum Task Force.

In addition to her work with strategic planning, supporting interdisciplinary research, and advancing underrepresented groups, Shaily is committed to the idea of a locally and globally engaged university. She serves on the Advisory Board and core team of the GVSU Office for Community Engagement. In 2013, she was invited to co-chair the new Diversity Initiative of Northwest Ottawa County (DINOC) and to serve on the Board of Trustees of Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, a non-profit organization for environmental education.

Shaily received an interdisciplinary Ph.D. in Anthropology, Zoology, and Natural Resources at The Ohio State University in 1993 and was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Massachusetts at Boston from 1994-97. She joined Grand Valley State University in 1998, where she is a professor in the Department of Biology and the Natural Resources Management program. Her teaching and research have been in the areas of environmental science, environmental ethics, conservation biology, systems dynamics, and spatial modeling. She has worked on collaborative and interdisciplinary research projects related to biodiversity conservation and the effects of land, sea, and climate change with students and faculty at GVSU and beyond, including in India and Brazil.

Shaily has been the recipient of the Outstanding University Service Award, Barbara Jordan Award for Contributions to Women’s Scholarship and Leadership, and the Glenn A. Niemeyer Outstanding Faculty Award.